System and method for assigning a service flow classifier to a device

ABSTRACT

A system and method for assigning a service flow classifier to a device. A MAC address of a device is extracted from a DHCP discover message. A DHCP server constructs a key from the device MAC address and an IP address assigned by the DHCP server. The key identifies a record of attributes of the device. A configuration server uses the key to access the attribute record and to generate a boot file for the device. The boot file includes one or more service flow classifiers that determine a service flow for packets destined for the device.

BACKGROUND

Service provider networks, such as, for example, cable networks, fibernetworks, fiber to the home networks, provide a wide range of servicesto subscribers for a fee. The services provided over a service providernetwork may include voice, data and video and may be offered in “levels”that are differentiated by speed, bandwidth, price, andquality-of-service (QoS) to name a few. A service level may include amaximum usage threshold. Policies, such as bandwidth throttling and QoSreduction, may also be implemented based on usage. Alternatively,services may also be offered on a consumption based billing (CBB) modelin which subscribers pay for the service they use.

Service offerings, policies and billing models that are based onconsumption necessarily require a service provider to measureconsumption. It is in the interest of subscribers of such serviceofferings that the consumption that is being measured is accurate anddoes not include traffic that is originated by the service provider orthe network itself or that is not usable by the subscriber. By way ofillustration and not by way of limitation, polling messages sent todevices and IP renew message exchanges between customer devices andnetwork devices are examples of traffic that a subscriber may wantexcluded from his or her measured consumption. Additionally, asubscriber would not want to be accountable for consumption that iscaused by plant problems that does not result in subscriber usabletraffic.

Several sources are available to measure consumption, but each has itslimitations for accuracy. For instance, when using standard serviceflows without any classifiers, all traffic to and from a cable modem andits customer devices is counted regardless of whether it is generated bythe subscriber or not. This can be alleviated with the use of IP basedclassifiers, but they are not static and may change rendering theclassification ineffective. Traffic received by and sent from a cablemodem may also be counted directly from the cable modem's counters.However, the cable modem counters do not differentiate traffic betweensource and destination addresses and can only provide aggregate trafficcounts across an interface. Furthermore, the cable modem is notconsidered a trusted device or may be unreachable at times, hencecompromising the accuracy of the data. The cable modem terminationserver (CMTS) is another source for measuring traffic. One approach toobtaining packet counts from the CMTS is to poll specific simple networkmanagement protocol (SNMP) management information bases (MIBs). Pollingthe CMTS, however, is not desired because it is CPU intensive and is notdesigned to scale polling large tables. The CMTS also requires constantpolling to track any dynamic service flows which can affect the accuracyof the counts. IPDR (Internet Protocol Detail Records) records from theCMTS provides a means to access the same MIBs without polling, but theproblem of being able to separate and count customer and managementtraffic reliably and accurately still remains.

To satisfy both the service provider and its subscribers, the means bywhich consumption is measured must be capable of distinguishing“countable” traffic from “non-countable” traffic.

A service provider may want to measure consumption for reasons unrelatedto billing and to distinguish one traffic type from another. Consumptiondata may be used to reconfigure a network or to target services tosubscribers sharing particular interests. The service level available toa subscriber is typically managed during the provisioning of devicesused by subscribers to access the service provider network. A typicalprovisioning process for a cable modem is illustrated in FIG. 1.However, the process is not limited to cable modems and is used by othernetwork devices that are configured on boot-up.

When a subscriber powers up the cable modem, it scans the downstreamlooking for 64- or 256-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) digitallymodulated signals (line 100). Once a digital signal is found, the modemlooks for information on that signal that is sent by the cable modemtermination system (CMTS) (line 200). The cable modem acquires anupstream channel descriptor (UCD), which contains information that thecable modem will need, such as the upstream frequency, modulation typeand channel bandwidth to use in order to communicate with the CMTS.

The cable modem then sends a range request (line 102). When the CMTSdetects the range request, it analyzes the power, frequency and timingof the range request and sends the cable modem a range response (line104), which includes instructions for the modem to adjust its transmitpower, frequency and timing as necessary.

When the cable modem has ranged with the CMTS, it has established acommunications link. The cable modem then needs to obtain additionalinformation about the network, get an IP address and get the name of aconfiguration file. The cable modem sends a Dynamic Host ConfigurationProtocol (DHCP) discover message to a DHCP server connected to the IPnetwork attached to the network (line 106). If the cable modem has beenprovisioned on the server, the DHCP server will send the modem an IPaddress, the IP address of a configuration file server (sometimesreferred to herein as a “Trivial File Transfer Protocol” or “TFTP”server) and a configuration filename (line 108).

The cable modem downloads the configuration file whose name it was givenduring the DHCP process. It does this by sending a TFTP read request(line 110) to the IP address of the TFTP server, also obtained duringthe DHCP process. If the filename exists on the TFTP server, the file isdownloaded to the cable modem (line 112). This file will provide thecable modem with settings such as the maximum subscriber data downloadand upload speeds, and quality of service (QoS) settings. The cablemodem then sends a registration request to the CMTS along with a list ofthe modem's configuration settings (line 114). If the CMTS approves ofthe modem's settings, it will respond with a registration responseindicating a successful registration (line 116). If the CMTS does notlike the cable modem's settings, the CMTS has the ability to reject thecable modem with a registration rejection, and the cable modem will notbe able to come online and transmit data.

Configuration files (also referred to as “boot files”) may bedynamically generated based on information provided in a configurationrequest message. In dynamic configuration (sometime referred to hereinas “Dynamic TFTP” or “DTFTP”), the DHCP server provides a templateidentifier and device attributes in the response message sent to thecable modem. The cable modem provides the template identifier and deviceattributes to a DTFTP server, which generates a boot file for the cablemodem. (See commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,282, which patent isincorporated herein by reference for a more detailed description of thedynamic generation of boot files.)

Service flows (SFs) are the fundamental units in DOCSIS 1.1 or higherprotocols used to carry upstream (US) and downstream (DS) traffic to andfrom the CM. A service flow is a unidirectional flow of packets forwhich a particular Quality of Service (QoS) policy is applied. The CMTS,in the downstream, or the CM, in the upstream, enforces this policythrough a combination of traffic shaping, policing, and prioritization.Typically, every device on the CMTS requires at least two service flows,one for upstream and one for downstream. However, multiple service flowscan be specified to differentiate traffic types. The number of requiredflows increases as new traffic differentiated services or applicationsare required.

When devices come online, a set of default service flows are establishedto carry any unclassified traffic, including registration data, MACmanagement messages or data PDUs. Once the device registers and itsnormal service flows become active, traffic is further differentiatedthrough the use of “classifiers” that are tied to each service flow. Iftraffic does not match any classifiers, it is forwarded on the primaryservice flow.

Classifiers are the constructs used to tie a particular traffic type toa specific service flow. Classifiers can be applied to either direction,but “downstream” classifiers are applied and processed at the CMTS while“upstream” classifiers are applied and processed at the CM. Classifiersare a set of “matching” criteria applied to each packet entering thecable network. If a packet matches a criteria defined for a serviceflow, the packet is then delivered to that specific service flow.Classifiers can be set up to match on a variety of parameters such aspriority, IP, and LLC parameters. The classifiers are processed based onpriority first followed by exact matches of other parameters.

Classifiers may be established based on device-specific values. However,these values must be conveyed to the DTFTP server before theconfiguration file for the device is generated. Currently, the dynamiccreation of configuration files is limited by the information that maybe provided to the DTFTP server via the template identifier. Conveyingadditional information in file names or other strings about the deviceto be configured increases overhead on the network and on systems thatsupport the provisioning process.

SUMMARY

Embodiments provide systems and methods for providing device-specificdata to a DTFTP server in an efficient manner and for using these datato create classifiers for devices dynamically. In other embodiments,systems and methods are provided to distinguish traffic based on thedestination of the traffic and to count customer generated CPE traffic,either solicited or unsolicited, while excluding any management trafficto a device through the use of a MAC address classifier.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a typical provisioning process.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a provisioningsystem according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a cable modem file name accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a cable modem configured withclassifiers according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a multi-subscriber gateway according to anembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a provisioningsystem according to an embodiment. In this embodiment, the device is acable modem. However, the process by which the cable modem isprovisioned may be applied to other network devices that are provisioneddynamically by cooperation between the device, a DHCP server and aconfiguration file server.

A cable modem 202 is connected to network 210. The network 210 alsoprovides connectivity to a cable modem termination system (CMTS) 204, aDynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server 202, and a dynamictrivial FTP (DTFTP) server 206.

In an embodiment, the DHCP server 220 is configured to receive DHCPmessages from cable mode 202 via network 210. The DHCP server 220comprises a memory 222. If cable modem 202 successfully registers withthe DHCP server 220, the attributes of the cable modem 202 are writtento a device attributes record 224 that is stored in memory 222. In anembodiment, the memory 222 is a cache memory and the device attributerecord 224 is assigned a configurable “time to live” (TTL). For example,the time period may be selected based on an expected time for the DTFTPserver to request information in the attributes record 224. After theexpiration of the TTL period, the cache memory is cleared and may bereused for other records. In this way, the size of memory 222 may bekept relatively small.

In an embodiment, the device attributes record 224 comprises a MACaddress of the cable modem 202 that is gleaned from the registrationrequest. The device attributes record 224 may also comprise additionalinformation relating to the cable modem 202. By way of illustration andnot by way of limitation, the device attributes record 224 may includevalues retrieved from LDAP.

In an embodiment, the DHCP server 220 generates a key that identifiesthe attributes record 224 for the cable modem 202. In an embodiment, thekey comprises the MAC address of the cable modem 202 and the IP addressassigned to the cable modem 202 by the DHCP server 220. However, the keymay be any identifier that uniquely identifies the attributes record ofthe device being configured. A key may be represented in hexadecimalnotation and encoded.

The DHCP server 220 also generates a cable modem file name for the cablemodem device. A representation of a cable modem file name is illustratedin FIG. 3. In an embodiment, the boot file name comprises fields toidentify an IP version, the source DHCP server IP address, and a keythat uniquely identifies the attribute record of the device beingconfigured. By way of illustration and not by way of limitation, the keymay be constructed from the MAC address of the cable modem 202 and theIP address assigned to the cable modem 202.

As previously described, the cable modem 202 sends a DHCP discovermessage that is answered by a DHCP server on the network (see, FIG. 1).In an embodiment, the DHCP server will send the modem the address of aDTFTP server and the cable modem file name to the cable modem in aresponse to the DHCP discover message. The cable modem 202 then sendsthe cable modem file name to the DTFTP server in a boot file requestmessage.

The DTFTP server 206 parses the cable modem file name to obtain the IPaddress of the DHCP server 220 and the key for the attributes record224. The DTFTP server accesses the attributes record 224 associated withthe key and acquires information from the record to dynamically generatea boot file for cable modem 202.

Table 1 illustrates content that may be found in the attributes record224.

TABLE 1 Attributes Record Content mac => 001018681934 type => cm dv =>2.0 ldap:    docsisbootfile => ip10bw10vip1.bin    docsisisp => isrrdhcpv4_options: option 40:    device:       model_number => BCM93368VCM      hardware_version => V1.0       vendor_ID => 001018      software_version => 4.4.4alpha5       boot_ROM_version => 2.2.00      embedded_components => ECM:EDVA       vendor_name => Broadcom      serial_number => 93368VCM-08-14       device_type => ECM option60:    capabilities:       fragmentation => true       multicast_DSIDs=> 16       docsis_version => 2       IP_filters => 256      frame_control_type_forwarding_capability => \1      expanded_unicast_SID_space => true       LLC_filters => 256      multicast_DSID_forwarding => 1       optional_filtering => true      upstream_SIDs => 16       number_of_equalizer_taps => 24      downstream_SAIDs => 15       IPv6 => true      payload_header_suppression => true       privacy => BPI+      transmit_equalizer_taps_per_symbol => 1       total_DSIDs => 16      concatenation => true       ranging_holdoff => \0\0\0\4       DCC=> true

In an embodiment, the boot file includes one or more classifiers.Classifiers are constructs used to tie a particular traffic type to aspecific service flow. Classifiers are a set of “matching” criteriaapplied to each packet entering the cable network. If a packet matches acriteria defined for a service flow, the packet is then delivered tothat specific service flow. Classifiers can be set up to match on avariety of parameters found in the attributes record 224. For example, aclassifier may be established for devices that have a particular DOCSISversion (for example, 2.x or higher), a particular manufacturer, or aparticular model number. The classifiers are processed based on priorityfirst followed by exact matches of other parameters.

In an embodiment, the generated boot file includes at least a MACclassifier. The MAC classifier classifies an incoming downstream packetinto a downstream service flow based on the destination MAC address andan outgoing upstream packet into an upstream service flow based on thesource MAC address. The classification of the service flow is set upthrough the modem configuration file. In the downstream direction, theCMTS determines the destination of a packet by looking through its“IP-to-MAC” host table and then queues the packet on the matching MACclassifier flow. If the incoming packet is a multicast or a broadcastpacket, the CMTS will not match the MAC classifier flow. In the upstreamdirection, the cable modem queues a packet based on its source MACaddress. When the cable modem generates a packet, the MAC address of thecable modem is used to place the packet on the MAC classifier flow. Inan embodiment, the CMTS uses the IP destination IP or the source IPaddress in a packet to obtain the MAC address of the destination orsource device and to identify packets destined for the cable modem andpackets originating from the cable modem. In this way, the CMTS maymaintain a count of “countable packets” that does not include packet toand from the cable modem as described below.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a cable modem configured withclassifiers according to an embodiment.

Service flows that are determined by the destination of a packet may beused to distinguish countable traffic from non-countable traffic.“Countable traffic” can be used to enforce policies related toconsumption and to establish billing models that are consumption based.By way of illustration and not by way of limitation, a service providermay distinguish packets (downstream packets) that are destined for adevice associated with a subscriber (such as a cable modem) from packetsdirected to other devices associated with a subscriber (such as acomputer). Similarly, packets that originate from a subscriber device(upstream packets) may be distinguished from packets that originate fromother devices

Knowledge of a subscriber's count may be used to facilitate theimplementation of network management policies and billing practices. Apacket count may be referred to a billing system to determine asubscriber's fee based on that subscriber's consumption. A subscriber'scount may also be referred to an enforcement system that implementsnetwork policies based on consumption. For example, a subscriber's countmay be the basis for reducing bandwidth accessible to the subscriber,changing a priority of packets originating from a subscriber device, andblocking packets originating from a subscriber device.

While the previous description has focused on cable modems, thedescription is intended to be illustrative and not limiting.

FIG. 5 illustrates a multi-subscriber gateway according to anembodiment. The network elements 202, 204, 206 and 220 operate aspreviously described. A multi-subscriber gateway (MSG) 502 comprisesmultiple logical exit points (circles 504, 506 and 508) that provideconnection to a network 210. By way of illustration and not by way oflimitation, the MSG 502 may be a wireless gateway and the exit points504, 506 and 508 may be virtual access points. While only three logicalexit points are illustrated in FIG. 5, MSG 502 may be configured withadditional exit points.

In an embodiment, the MSG is installed at a subscriber location behind acable modem 202. One of the logical exit points is assigned to thesubscriber. The other exit points may be assigned by the serviceprovider to permit access to the network 210 by other subscribers. Forexample, where the exit points are virtual access points, the other exitpoints may be used to support wireless roaming by other subscribers orto support services offered by other service providers. As describedpreviously, under circumstances in which consumption of networkresources is monitored on a subscriber basis, it is important toidentify the network resources that flow through each of the exitpoints.

In an embodiment, each of the exit points 504, 506 and 508 of the MSG isassigned a MAC address. A DOCSIS configuration file is constructed,embedding the MAC address of each exit point as a classifier. Theseclassifiers are then used to put traffic from each of the exit points ondifferent service flows as necessary. In so doing, the traffic from theservice flow the subscriber is paying for is separated from the trafficcarried over the other exit points. The process for assigning serviceflows to an MSG is similar to that described in reference to a cablemodem with the exception that each exit point would request an IPaddress from the DHCP server.

In an embodiment, each exit point 504, 506 and 508 is associated with apre-assigned MAC address. In another embodiment, the MAC address isassigned to the exit points on booting of the cable modem to which theMSG is connected. In an embodiment, the MAC addresses are assigned tothe exit points in the cable modem DOCSIS configuration file. The cablemodem passes the MAC addresses to the MSG.

In an alternative embodiment, the cable modem may provide the number ofrequested MAC addresses in its provisioning request (via a DHCP option,or perhaps in a DTFTP request) which would allow a backend provisioningsystem to dynamically assign the proper number of MACs for the MSG. TheMAC addresses may be allocated to the MSG during initial provisioningand dynamically allocated based upon pre-determined criteria (CMTSidentifier, CM MAC, serial number, etc). If the system generating DOCSISconfiguration files is also the same system assigning MAC addresses thenit can also define classifiers and flows that match those same MACaddresses.

The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams areprovided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to requireor imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed inthe order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the artthe order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in anyorder. Further, words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are notintended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used toguide the reader through the description of the methods.

An operating environment for the described embodiments may include aprocessing system with at least one high speed central processing unit(“CPU”) or other processing unit and a memory system. The operatingenvironment may be included in a device, computer or server that is usedin conjunction with the various embodiments.

It will be appreciated that the acts and symbolically representedoperations or instructions include the manipulation of electricalsignals by the CPU. An electrical system with data bits causes aresulting transformation or reduction of the electrical signalrepresentation, and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations inthe memory system to thereby reconfigure or otherwise alter the CPU'soperation, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locationswhere data bits are maintained are physical locations that haveparticular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic propertiescorresponding to the data bits.

The data bits may also be maintained on a computer readable mediumreadable by the CPU or other processing unit. The computer readablemedium includes cooperating or interconnected computer readable media,which exist exclusively on the processing system or are distributedamong multiple interconnected processing systems that may be local orremote to the processing system.

Further, in view of many embodiments to which the principles of theinvention may be applied, it should be understood that the illustratedembodiments are exemplary embodiments and should not limit the presentinvention as defined by the claims. For example, functionality that hasbeen described in reference to a single device may be appliedsimultaneously or sequentially to any number of devices. Unlessspecified to the contrary, the steps of the flow charts may be taken insequence other than those described, and more, fewer or equivalentelements or components could also be used.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. Various modifications tothese embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art,and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to otherembodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, thepresent invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shownherein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with thefollowing claims and the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method for generating an attributes record key for a device by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server, comprising: receiving a DHCP discover message from the device, wherein the DHCP discover message comprises a medium access control (MAC) address of the device; generating at the DHCP server: the attributes record key for the device, wherein the attributes record key uniquely identifies a record for the device stored on the DHCP server; and a device file name for the device, wherein the device file name comprises an IP address of the DHCP server and the attributes record key of the device; sending the device file name and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a Dynamic Trivial File Transfer Protocol (DTFTP) server to the device; receiving a request for an attribute record of the device from the DTFTP server, wherein the request includes the attributes record key for the device; and providing the attribute record of the device to the DTFTP server.
 22. The method of claim 21 wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a cable modem and a multi-subscriber gateway.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the attributes record key comprises the MAC address of the device and an IP address assigned to the device by the DHCP server.
 24. A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for generating an attributes record key for a device, comprising: a processor, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the DHCP server to perform operations comprising: receiving a DHCP discover message from the device, wherein the DHCP discover message comprises a medium access control (MAC) address of the device; generating the attributes record key for the device, wherein the attributes record key uniquely identifies a record for the device stored on the DHCP server; generating a device file name for the device, wherein the device file name comprises an IP address of the DHCP server and the attributes record key of the device; sending the device file name and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a Dynamic Trivial File Transfer Protocol (DTFTP) server to the device; receiving a request for an attribute record of the device from the DTFTP server, wherein the request includes the attributes record key for the device; and providing the attribute record of the device to the DTFTP server.
 25. The DHCP server of claim 24, wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a cable modem and a multi-subscriber gateway.
 26. The DHCP server of claim 24, wherein the attributes record key comprises the MAC address of the device and an IP address assigned to the device by the DHCP server.
 27. A method for assigning a service flow classifier to a device by a Dynamic Trivial File Transfer Protocol (DTFTP) server, comprising: receiving, from the device, a device file name in a boot file request message, wherein the device file name comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and an attributes record key of the device that uniquely identifies a record for the device stored on the DHCP server; accessing an attribute record of the device stored on the DHCP server using the IP address of the DHCP server and the attributes record key for the device; generating a boot file for the device, wherein the boot file comprises one or more service flow classifiers; and sending the boot file to the device.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein one of the one or more service flow classifiers classifies an incoming downstream packet into a service flow identified by a medium access control (MAC) address of the device.
 29. The method of claim 27, wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a cable modem and a multi-subscriber gateway.
 30. The method of claim 27, further comprising associating the device and another device with a subscriber, wherein the one or more service flow classifiers are associated with one or more service flows that comprises a first service flow for packets that are destined to the device and a second service flow for packets that are destined for the other device.
 31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: queuing a packet destined for the device on the first service flow; queuing a packet destined for the other device on the second service flow; counting the packets queued on the second service flow during a time interval; and associating the count with the subscriber.
 32. The method of claim 31, further comprising billing the subscriber based on the count.
 33. The method of claim 31, further comprising applying a policy to the subscriber based on the count.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the policy is selected from the group consisting of reducing bandwidth accessible to the subscriber, changing a priority of packets originating from the other device, and blocking packets originating from the other device.
 35. The method of claim 27, wherein the attributes record key comprises a MAC address of the device and an IP address assigned to the device by the DHCP server.
 36. A Dynamic Trivial File Transfer Protocol (DTFTP) server for assigning a service flow classifier to a device, comprising: a processor, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the DTFTP server to perform operations comprising: receiving, from the device, a device file name in a boot file request message, wherein the device file name comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and an attributes record key of the device that uniquely identifies a record for the device stored on the DHCP server; accessing an attribute record of the device stored on the DHCP server using the IP address of the DHCP server and the attributes record key for the device; generating a boot file for the device, wherein the boot file comprises one or more service flow classifiers; and sending the boot file to the device.
 37. The DTFTP server of claim 36, wherein one of the one or more service flow classifiers classifies an incoming downstream packet into a service flow identified by a medium access control (MAC) address of the device.
 38. The DTFTP server of claim 36, wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a cable modem and a multi-subscriber gateway.
 39. The DTFTP server of claim 36, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the DTFTP server to perform operations further comprising: associating the device and another device with a subscriber, wherein the one or more service flow classifiers are associated with one or more service flows that comprises a first service flow for packets that are destined to the device and a second service flow for packets that are destined for the other device.
 40. The DTFTP server of claim 39, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the DTFTP server to perform operations further comprising: queuing a packet destined for the device on the first service flow; queuing a packet destined for the other device on the second service flow; counting the packets queued on the second service flow during a time interval; and associating the count with the subscriber.
 41. The DTFTP server of claim 40, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the DTFTP server to perform operations further comprising billing the subscriber based on the count.
 42. The DTFTP server of claim 40, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the DTFTP server to perform operations further comprising applying a policy to the subscriber based on the count.
 43. The DTFTP server of claim 42, wherein the policy is selected from the group consisting of reducing bandwidth accessible to the subscriber, changing a priority of packets originating from the other device, and blocking packets originating from the other device.
 44. The DTFTP server of claim 36, wherein the attributes record key comprises a MAC address of the device and an IP address assigned to the device by the DHCP server.
 45. A method for assigning a service flow classifier to a device comprising: sending a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) discover message to a DHCP server, wherein the DHCP discover message comprises a medium access control (MAC) address of the device; receiving a device file name and an IP address of a Dynamic Trivial File Transfer Protocol (DTFTP) server, wherein the device file name comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the DHCP server and an attributes record key of the device that uniquely identifies a record for the device stored on the DHCP server; sending the device file name in a boot file request message to the DTFTP server using the IP address of the DTFTP server; receiving a boot file from the DTFTP server, wherein the boot file comprises one or more service flow classifiers; and configuring the device with the one or more service flow classifiers.
 46. The method of claim 45, wherein one of the one or more service flow classifiers classifies an incoming downstream packet into a service flow identified by the MAC address of the device.
 47. The method of claim 45, wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a cable modem and a multi-subscriber gateway.
 48. The method of claim 45, wherein the attributes record key comprises the MAC address of the device and an IP address assigned to the device by the DHCP server.
 49. A device, comprising: a processor, wherein the processor is configured with software executable instructions to cause the device to perform operations comprising: sending a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) discover message to a DHCP server, wherein the DHCP discover message comprises a medium access control (MAC) address of the device; receiving a device file name and an IP address of a Dynamic Trivial File Transfer Protocol (DTFTP) server, wherein the device file name comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the DHCP server and an attributes record key of the device that uniquely identifies a record for the device stored on the DHCP server; sending the device file name in a boot file request message to the DTFTP server using the IP address of the DTFTP server; receiving a boot file from the DTFTP server, wherein the boot file comprises one or more service flow classifiers; and configuring the device with the one or more service flow classifiers.
 50. The device of claim 49, wherein one of the one or more service flow classifiers classifies an incoming downstream packet into a service flow identified by the MAC address of the device.
 51. The device of claim 49, wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of a cable modem and a multi-subscriber gateway.
 52. The device of claim 49, wherein the attributes record key comprises the MAC address of the device and an IP address assigned to the device by the DHCP server. 